NORTH KOREA
Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test
Benjamin Kang Lim, Reuters – Feb 15, 2013
North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.
Responding to North Korea
Bennett Ramberg, Reuters – Feb 15, 2013
Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy.
Japan, China divided over binding sanctions against N. Korea
The Asahi Shimbun – Feb 15, 2013
Japan, the United States and South Korea are lobbying for hard-hitting sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear test on Feb. 12, but China remains wary of backing its long-time ally too far into a corner.
Post-nuke test detection efforts turn up no radiation thus far
Lee Keun-yong, The Hankyoreh – Feb 15, 2013
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said that as of 3pm on Feb. 14, two days of detection efforts had failed to find any radioactive isotopes following North Korea’s Feb. 12 nuclear test. The samples were taken from the area near the DMZ and the East Sea.
IRAN
Iran’s Nuclear-Technology Gains Suggest Sanctions Are Backfiring
Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg News – Feb 15, 2013
International sanctions designed to punish Iran for its nuclear program may be counter-productive, said scientists and security analysts tracking the decade-long dispute over the Persian Gulf nation’s atomic work.
China emerges as smuggling platform for Iranian N-programme
The Hindu – Feb 15, 2013
As enforcement efforts have tightened globally, Iran is using China as a platform to smuggle sanctioned goods for its controversial nuclear programme, according to a US think-tank. A report, titled ‘Ring Magnet for IR-1 Centrifuges’ by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said that China needs to do more to show that it is a responsible member of the global economy.
Iran could use U.N. talks as cover to build bomb, Ban Ki-moon says
Anne Gearan, The Washington Post – Feb 14, 2013
The United Nations must be decisive and swift in judging whether diplomacy can resolve world concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday, or invite the risk that Iran, like North Korea, will use talks as a cover to build a bomb. In an interview with The Washington Post, Ban said he wants to accelerate diplomatic talks with Iran and give them new urgency.
